The Outer Limits

I first started watching The Outer Limits back in 95 when I was 10, and it just blew my mind every week with each episode, every episode had a twist and each week I couldn't wait for the next. How the writers managed to do every episode so well and make it different from each over a course of 7 seasons is beyond me. This show manages to teach us about life, robotics, Alien and human encounters, and an insight into more of the paranormal, and how it affects the people. What really makes this a good show are the characters in each episode, they really show emotion and are really good actors. What you'll also notice each week is an actor/actress you'll know from a past show which is pretty neat in its own way.

If you wanna chill out, and sit back with a good Sci-Fi show, then the Outer Limits is for you

The Outer Limits is a unique show that includes material that appeals to a very large/diverse audience without "selling out" like many Hollywood movies. The science fiction aspect is authentic and detailed while simple enough and explained well enough to be understood by any interested viewer. Each episode will provoke ongoing thought. The cast changes from episode to episode, however there are a couple stories/characters which are revisited time and again. You will also recognize some known faces. It seems almost every time I see the show there is a famous actor/actress playing one the main characters. I remember Alyssa Milano, Kevin Nealin, Natashia Henstrich, Ryan Reynolds and many others that fail to come to mind (sp?). There are many great episodes; I recommend finding and watching the episode "Ship". I do not know which season it is from.

I discovered The Outer Limits in mid-2001 while it was in syndication. Sadly, I didn't realize that they had just wrapped their final season. I've been trying to catch all of the episodes on Sci-Fi, which has an erratic schedule for this show, to say the least!

I must say that I disagree with most of the negative comments that I've read so far, regarding this program. The series did indeed have some dud episodes -- especially the episodes which pieced together parts of other episodes to somehow make a "new" story. However, for the most part, the show ran 7 seasons with some very original, creative, and fresh concepts that in most cases held my attention until the very end. In fact, I felt sorry at the end of certain episodes that I wouldn't get to see more of the story, as each episode is a self-contained. Unlike many shows than ran for 7 seasons, I did not find a degradation in quality as the show wore on. In fact, my second-favorite episode ("A New Life") was from the final season.

While many writers were involved with the stories shown in The Outer Limits, a few were responsible for the majority of the episodes. It's interesting to take a look at some of the "themes" behind the show in general. The main (and stated) theme of The Outer Limits was to explore human nature and the consequence of human mistakes. However, a viewing of all episodes also reveals a disdain that the writers seem to hold for both the American military and Christianity. There were several episodes in which the military was either the villain, or the protagonist whose mistakes lead to the destruction of mankind. Christianity was frequently shown as the vehicle used to brainwash unsuspecting earthlings into helping aliens accomplish their evil goals. I am neither Christian nor involved with the military, but I found this apparent bias by the writers to be annoying, and sometimes ruined otherwise good episodes.

I liked how The Outer Limits mixed its endings between happy and catastrophic. That made things a bit less predictable, unlike many movies of today where you know in advance that the hero will survive and triumph.

If you're looking for a great episode, try "The Refuge". I won't detail any of the plot for you, since it's best watched without knowing anything in advance. It's from season 2, so I believe you can find it on the Season 2 DVD.

I haven't seen all the Outer limits episodes, but when I have tuned in I've seen some quite good episodes almost like a one-hour movie with good (if lesser known) guest stars. Others have been embarrassing to watch or just plain average, it seems the way they did things was to have mostly low budget "filler" episodes and save up for a great, blockbuster episode every now and then.

The Outer Limits seems to offer both the best and worst of TV, I say overall it's not a bad effort but viewers like me may lose patience when it starts to seem like a long time between good episodes. I'm surprised the show ran as long as it did, with every science fiction-themed show outside of Star Trek and Stargate being cancelled at the first opportunity.

No, I have not seen the original series and I won't compare the two if I had. This series is filmed in Canada in Vancouver and Victoria, British Columbia. The series is well-written in a different story each week. Some are little out there but most of the time it is the quality of the story telling. I loved the Afterlife episode with Clancy Brown and Barbara Gerrick and the Deprogrammers episode with the irresistible Brent Spiner as a Deprogrammer in a world where humans have become slaves to a lizard reptilian species. It's funny how the lizards and reptiles are our favorite evil aliens like V but anyway he has three days to program a man who is totally brainwashed in serving the alien species on earth. The stories are usually a little out there but very entertaining to watch.